Dennis Kucinich on Drugs

Democratic Representative (OH-10)

Reduce sentencing disparity for crack cocaine retroactively

Q: The US Sentencing Commission recently limited the disparity in sentencing guidelines for those convicted of crimes involving crack cocaine versus crimes involving powder cocaine. Should that change be retroactive?

CLINTON: I believe we’ve got to
decrease the disparity that exists. But I have problems with retroactivity.

DODD: I’d be inclined to say yes on the retroactivity.

EDWARDS: I’m not just inclined to say yes; the answer is yes, absolutely; it should be retroactive.

KUCINICH: Yes.

Source: 2007 Iowa Brown & Black Presidential Forum
Dec 1, 2007

Supports national ban on smoking in public places

Q: Over 400,000 Americans have premature death due to smoking or secondhand smoke. Who would favor a national law to ban smoking in all public places?

BIDEN: Yes. I would ban--in all public [places], nationally.

DODD: 3,000 kids start smoking every
day in this country.

RICHARDSON: I did it in New Mexico as a national law.

KUCINICH: You bet I’ll go for a national law.

Q: So Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Gravel and Kucinich in favor of a national law.

Lower drinking age from 21 to 18; and voting age to 16

Q: Would you as president remove the requirement that a state have a legal drinking age of 21 in order to receive federal highway funds, thereby returning the drinking age back to the states?

BIDEN: Absolutely no, I would not. The cost of alcoholism in
America, the cost of accidents that flow from drunkenness, are astronomical.

DODD: No, I agree with Joe on this. The problems associated with alcohol are significant in our country. The evidence is overwhelming..

KUCINICH: You know,
I think that not only about service, but we have to have confidence in young Americans. And a president who reaches out to them and talks to them about drinking responsibly is much better than a president who tells them, “Thou shalt not,” because young
people will do what they do, but they’re looking for leadership from a president. I’m ready to provide that leadership. Of course they should be able to drink at age 18, and they should be able to vote at age 16.

Medical marijuana should be decided by doctors & patients

Many people with AIDS and HIV, and many people with cancer have benefited from the 11 states with legalized medicinal marijuana. But the federal government have come into California and have raided our medicinal marijuana shops.
So do you think we should have this law for the whole country?

A: Four years ago, when there were raids in California, I, as a member of Congress, objected to that. And, of course, it’s a matter between doctors and patients.
And if doctors want to prescribe medical marijuana to relieve pain, compassion requires that the government support that. And so, as president of the US, I would make sure that our Justice Department was mindful that we should be taking a compassionate
approach. I want to go one step further, because this whole issue of drugs in our society is misplaced. I mean, drugs have infected this society, but I think we need to look at it more as a medical and a health issue than as a criminal justice issue.

Hasn’t smoked marijuana, but would decriminalize it

At the “Rock the Vote” debate, the moderator inevitably asked,. “Which of you are ready to admit to having used marijuana in the past?”

“Yes,” said John Kerry, leading off. “Yes,” said John Edwards . “Yes,” said Howard Dean.
None of these three baby-boomer candidates said anything beyond their short, declarative affirmations. None followed with a hurried explanation that it was just a few times, that it was some kind of “youthful indiscretion,” or that he didn’t inhale.
The implication of their answers seemed to be, “Yeah, so what?”

In fact, the defensive answers tended to come from those replying in the negative. “No,” said Dennis Kucinich. “But I think it ought to be decriminalized.”

“I grew up in the church,”
said Al Sharpton. “We didn’t believe in that.”

“I have a reputation for giving unpopular answers,” said Joe Lieberman. “I never used marijuana. Sorry!”

In the next day’s news coverage, the admissions of marijuana smoking were largely ignored.

Source: [X-ref Kerry] Steven Holmes, NY Times
Nov 9, 2003

Emphasizes rehabilitation over incarceration

Q: Most of the people who use drugs are white. Most of the people who are sentenced for drug possession and sales are black. What will you do to reverse this unfair trend?

KUCINICH: First of all, we have to acknowledge that drug sentencing
ends up being discriminatory, that our drug laws are harsh in that they emphasize not just criminalization but they emphasize incarceration. We need different thinking today. My presidency will mean that we will begin to emphasize the rehabilitation
of people who are afflicted with drug use. And we will begin to emphasize giving people an opportunity to fully recover. This is one of the reasons why we need a not-for-profit health care system which includes treatment of substance abusers.
This is why we need to make sure we focus this country on a cause which takes us away from this punitive approach that we use for people who are trapped in drug use. We need an approach which emphasizes rehabilitation over incarceration.

Source: Congressional Black Caucus Institute debate
Sep 9, 2003

War on Drugs benefits only the prison-industrial complex

A safe, free and just America is undermined, not bolstered, by the costly and ineffective War on Drugs. Criminalization over treatment has led to increased violent crime, misdirected resources of law enforcement and restricted Constitutional liberties.
The US must rethink a policy that produces many casualties, but benefits only the prison-industrial complex.

Racial bias in drug enforcement is pervasive

Racial bias in the enforcement of drug laws is pervasive.
Drug use is consistent across racial and socioeconomic lines, yet in the state of New York, for example, 94% of incarcerated drug offenders are Latino or African-American, mostly from poor communities.

Addiction is a medical and moral problem

Addiction is a medical and moral problem that should be treated by professionals, not dumped on the criminal justice system. In our country, only one bed exists for every ten people who apply for drug treatment.

public security and law enforcement, including assistance to the National Council Against Addiction (CONADIC).

Proponent's argument to vote Yes:Rep. HOWARD BERMAN (D, CA-28): The drug crisis facing the US remains a top national security threat. This bill represents a new partnership with Mexico and Central American countries to face the immediate security threat of drug gangs, and help these neighbors build the capacity of their law enforcement agencies.

Opponent's argument to vote No:Rep. MICHAEL McCAUL (R, TX-10): We need a strategy on this side of the border: a two-pronged
Approach; a comprehensive strategy that deals not only with the Mexican side but with the US side. And for too long, our border sheriffs and our Border Patrol agents have been outmanned and outgunned. And if we are going to provide assistance to Mexico, it seems to me we ought to be providing assistance to our men and women on our side fighting this war every day.

Rep. TED POE (R, TX-2): I am concerned about drugs and violence on the border, but I am also concerned about corruption. In order to gain control of access corridors in the US, drug cartels are hiring hit men from an elite force in Mexico's military. This group is known as the "Zetas." Some of the Zetas are military deserters that may have been trained in the US. $1 billion in this bill would go to Mexico. And Mexico in its arrogance objects to any conditions we want to put on this money. The administration can offer us no assurance that our equipment and training won't be used against us and neither can Mexico.

Voted NO on military border patrols to battle drugs & terrorism.

Voted NO on prohibiting needle exchange & medical marijuana in DC.

Vote to pass a bill that provides $429.1 million in funds for the District of Columbia and approves the District's $6.8 billion budget. Among other provisions, the bill prohibits the use of federal funds for needle exchange programs, prohibits implementing an approved ballot initiative to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana.

VOTE HEMP is a non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and free market for Industrial Hemp. Industrial Hemp is non-psychoactive low THC varieties of the cannabis sativa plant. Currently, it is illegal for U.S. farmers to grow Industrial Hemp because it is improperly classified as a "drug" under the Controlled Substances Act. Since changes in law require shifts in thinking and this requires education in the facts, our primary goal is the education of legislators and regulators, farmers and businesses, students and other concerned citizens.

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law's mission is to move public opinion sufficiently to achieve the repeal of marijuana prohibition so that the responsible use of cannabis by adults is no longer subject to penalty.

NORML is a nonprofit, public-interest lobby that for more than 30 years has provided a voice for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition. We represent the interests of the tens of millions of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly and believe the recreational and medicinal use of marijuana should no longer be a crime.

NORML supports the removal of all criminal penalties for the private possession
& responsible use of marijuana by adults, including the cultivation for personal use, and the casual nonprofit transfers of small amounts. This model is called "decriminalization."

NORML additionally supports the development of a legally controlled market for marijuana, where consumers could purchase it from a safe, legal and regulated source. This model is referred to as "legalization."

NORML believes that marijuana smoking is not for kids and should only be used responsibly by adults. As with alcohol consumption, it must never be an excuse for misconduct or other bad behavior. Driving or operating heavy equipment while impaired from marijuana should be prohibited.

NORML strongly supports the right of patients to use marijuana as a medicine when their physician recommends it to relieve pain and suffering.

Lastly, NORML supports the right of farmers to commercially cultivate hemp for industrial purposes, such as food and fiber production.

Distribute sterile syringes to reduce AIDS and hepatitis.

To permit the use of Federal funds for syringe exchange programs for purposes of reducing the transmission of bloodborne pathogens, including HIV and viral hepatitis.

Congress finds as follows:

Each year, approximately 12,000 Americans contract HIV/AIDS and approximately 19,000 Americans contract the hepatitis C virus directly or indirectly from sharing contaminated syringes.

A 2005 comprehensive international review of the evidence of the effectiveness of syringe exchange programs in preventing HIV transmission shows that such programs reduce HIV transmission and are cost-effective.

Research has shown that injection drug users who are referred to addiction treatment from syringe exchange programs are more likely to enter and remain in treatment.

Research has shown that, by providing safe disposal of used injection equipment, syringe exchange programs significantly reduce the number of improperly discarded
syringes in the community, thereby reducing the exposure of police and others to dangers of blood-borne disease from accidental syringe sticks.

Despite the scientific and public health consensus that syringe exchange programs reduce HIV and do not increase substance abuse, a ban on funding syringe exchange has been enacted as part of each Appropriations Act since 1998.

The Public Health Service Act, as added by the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990, is subject to a statutory ban on funding needle exchange programs.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing shall prohibit the use of Federal funds to establish or carry out a program of distributing sterile syringes to reduce the transmission of bloodborne pathogens, including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and viral hepatitis.